IRC Networks and Server Lists

This site highlights just some of the over 400 independent IRC networks out there, each with its own channels and people. We do not seek to be comprehensive, that would be overwhelming for us to maintain and for you to read through. Instead, we hope to give people some suggestions to start, as well as to equip them with the knowledge of how to find other places on their own.

(Ed. note 1/26/03: We are phasing in a long overdue update, so pardon any temporary inconsistencies.)

Browsing for a new network to explore? Want to compare the policies or characteristics of different networks? Look over our list of IRC networks, organized into the following 5 groups:

Popular nets. At over 10,000
users each, these nets account for over 90% of IRC users. Tend to be plagued by lag, splits, spam and general stupidity, but for most people, nets like
these are 'the place to be'.

General nets: This is the broadest category, selected from hundreds of general chat networks with hundreds to thousands of people. Compared to the popular nets above, nets like these can be just as fun but a lot less frustrating.

Subject nets: Some groups of people have set up their own networks, dedicated to their cause, subject of interest or serving a
particular social group. Many of these subjects are covered by channels on the popular nets, but these nets offer a calm, dedicated alternative.

Local nets: These nets allow local server connections, especially useful in areas with bad network connectivity, offer an environment where the local language is predominant in the case of non-English speaking countries and, of course, will be a place for discussing topics of local interest.

The site hosted by netsplit.de is unique in providing statistics and channel lists for pretty much all IRC networks. You can compare different networks by simple numerical statistics (numbers of servers, users, and channels), or search for channels by keyword across all networks.

Server Maps

Depictions of the geographic locations of servers and how they are linked up to form various IRC networks.

Note: Feel free to link to any of these pages, but no part of these documents may be mirrored or distributed in any form, either partly or in whole.
Comments and critiques are based on our personal views and are not necessarily shared or condoned by the maintainers and owners of this site.